President Biden was sternly critical Thursday while addressing some of the pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted on college campuses across the country in response to the ongoing war in Gaza.
“In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points,” Biden said. “But this isn’t a moment for politics. It’s a moment for clarity. So let me be clear … Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is.”
Hundreds of people have been arrested or detained in demonstrations on the campuses of Columbia University in New York, the University of California, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
READ: Columbia University makes all classes, exams remote
Students say they are protesting against the tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths amid the Israel-Hamas war. Militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel in October and left more than 1,100 Israelis dead and several dozen taken as hostages to Gaza.
Campus protestors seized Hamilton Hall at Columbia on Monday in an escalation of the demonstrations that began two weeks ago with a campus yard encampment. New York police officers responded with riot shields and zip ties to take back the building from the protesting occupiers.
“We’ve all seen the images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech, for people to peacefully assemble, make their voices heard. Second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld. We’re not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,” Biden said Thursday. (The Hill)
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Liz Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.
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Hush money testimony highlights tabloid culture
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Some unexpected D-list stars were evoked in testimony during the sixth day of testimony in former President Trump‘s alleged “hush money” trial on Thursday.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, internet influencer Tila Tequila, actor Charlie Sheen and wrestler Hulk Hogan were among those mentioned as the trial moves forward. Witness and former lawyer to Daniels, Keith Davidson, was explaining the nature of tabloid journalism.
Trump’s criminal case is centered on allegations of falsified business transactions to cover for “hush money” paid to Daniels during the 2016 presidential race to conceal an alleged affair.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Davidson told the court about his interactions with former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen.
A forensic analyst in the Manhattan district attorney’s office later detailed how he examined two of Cohen’s phones.
Analyst Doug Daus testified that one of Cohen’s phones had 39,745 contacts saved, which Daus said “is unusual.” Asked about the average user’s number:
“Maybe hundreds,” Daus said.
“Maybe thousands?” prosecutor Chris Conroy asked.
“Maybe thousands, at the most,” Daus replied.
Catch up on all the updates from inside the courtroom via The Hill.
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Senate GOP campaign chief tempers expectations ahead of November elections
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Senate GOP campaign chief Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is keeping expectations restrained as Republicans try to retake control of the Senate in the coming term. Daines’ main goal isn’t for a massive “red wave” but simply to flip two seats — despite a favorable map for Republicans.
Daines told reporters Thursday he is aiming to end the party’s four-year stretch in the minority, and any other wins will be a bonus.
“Fifty-one,” Daines said about his goal for the cycle. “Because that gives us the majority.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is stepping down from his leadership post, but not resigning from Congress, in the upcoming term, also tried to allay GOP worries over where things stand in the effort to gain the majority at this point.
“You take polls around Labor Day and begin to decide where you’re going to play,” McConnell said in an interview with Politico this week. “But we know where we’re going to play for sure right now: Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland.”
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Menendez lawyers tie cash, gold found in home to psychological trauma
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Sen. Bob Menendez‘s (D-N.J.) attorneys say that the massive load of cash and gold that law enforcement discovered in a raid of the long-time lawmaker’s home isn’t from corrupt deals: It’s a product of generational trauma and hoarding habit, they argued in their latest court filing.
Menendez, his wife and two business partners have been charged in a sweeping corruption case, alleging the senator, who has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold and gifts in return for his influence.
His defense claimed in a filing Wednesday that the $480,000 cash and 13 gold bars found at his home are related to psychological trauma from his father’s suicide and a family history of having property confiscated in Cuba.
Menendez’s attorneys want to have a psychologist testify in the trial to address their claims. Prosecutors are not having it, as they say that it gives a chance for the defense to discuss Menendez’s state of mind, without being able to cross examine him.
Menendez is not seeking reelection this year. (The Hill)
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US accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine
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The U.S. State Department has accused Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine after a new set of sanctions.
Russia allegedly violated the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act by using the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops, the department said. The lung-damaging chemical was used as a poison gas in World War I.
Moscow has denied the allegations, countering that it’s the Ukrainian forces who have been using banned chemical weapons in the ongoing conflict.
The State Department has tied the alleged violations to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison under suspicious circumstances earlier this year.
The Biden administration has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny’s death. (The Hill)
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Hill Exclusive: Congressional Renters Caucus declares rent is too high, proposes relief
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The Congressional Renters Caucus wants the House Appropriations Committee to expand funding for federal rental assistance and other housing programs as the nation grapples with a lack of affordable housing.
More than 45 million U.S. households rent their homes, according to estimates from the National Multifamily Housing Council. Members of the Renters Caucus, launched by Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) last year, represent districts where more than half of residents are renters.
“Across the country our constituents are struggling to find and keep a home in an increasingly unaffordable rental housing market, due to insufficient federal rental assistance, inadequate supply of high quality, affordable rental housing, and unnecessary, often discriminatory additional barriers preventing millions of Americans from getting into safe, affordable, high quality rental housing,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, shared exclusively with The Hill.
Gomez told The Hill that the Renters Caucus is pushing to lower housing costs, increase the supply of housing and remove barriers to fair and affordable renting “because it is entirely unacceptable that the federal government isn’t putting every resource possible towards tackling the housing crisis.” (The Hill)
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“Eight years later, Trump is still driving the media nuts,” writes Bernard Goldberg, Emmy-winning writer and journalist.
“The ‘two-state solution’ assumes a State of Palestine is possible — but is it?” writes Eliot Wilson, freelance writer and co-founder of Pivot Point Group.
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73 days until the Republican National Convention.
109 days until the Democratic National Convention.
186 days until the 2024 general election.
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Friday: President Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to several recipients, including to actress Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Crazy Rich Asians”); and, posthumously, to legendary athlete and Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe.
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