The premiere of Surviving R. Kelly, a six-part Lifetime docuseries on the R&B superstar’s decades of reported sexual abuse and exploitation, was only hours away. But Lizzette Martinez still didn’t know if she wanted to watch it or not. Last month, Martinez had been invited to a private screening of the series in New York […]
A group of North Dakota lawmakers — all Republicans — have introduced legislation that would require the state’s public schools to teach a unit on the Bible. The unit could be on the Old Testament, the New Testament, or a mix of the two, and would count toward students’ social studies credit requirements. As blogger Hemant […]
President Donald Trump’s partial government shutdown, currently in its 18th day, is harming more than tens of thousands federal employees and their families — as well as the millions of Americans they serve throughout the country. The Center for American Progress examined the impacts of the shutdown on the states of Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, […]
If Donald Trump declares a national emergency to build his wall and orders the military to build it — as Trump is reportedly considering — he can lean on a broad set of federal laws authorizing military action. Read together, these laws should not authorize Trump to build his wall. Among other things, an emergency […]
California and New York City are looking to give health care to more people, regardless of immigration status — a stark contrast to rhetoric coming out of Washington, D.C., where the president has shut down the government over funding disputes for a proposed border wall. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced shortly after taking office on […]
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA — Erica Racz lost her right to vote ten years ago when she was convicted of a felony. On Tuesday morning, she was the first person at the Lee County Supervisor’s Office to register to vote. Her mom and daughter joined her as she filled out the forms. Racz said her hands […]
With President Trump holding the federal government ransom to pay for a wall he promised Mexico would fund, and considering the declaration of a “national emergency” to force the military to construct it, he has resorted to several different arguments. Beyond the desire to keep a campaign promise, or allegedly save money, Trump’s main argument has […]
A new indictment unsealed on Tuesday revealed that Natalya Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer at the heart of the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting, worked far closer with Russian higher-ups than previously known. The indictment was filed in the U.S. Southern District of New York and charges Veselnitskaya with obstruction of justice. It detailed how Veselnitskaya […]
We are eight days into 2019, and a family in Houston, Texas is coming together for the burial of an innocent child killed by the heartbreaking unfairness of gun violence in this country. The family of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes held her funeral services on Tuesday. On December 30, Barnes was shot and killed while sitting in […]
As the partial government shutdown stretches into its third week — making it the second longest shutdown in U.S. history — federal workers in Philadelphia took to the streets Tuesday to protest the White House and congressional inaction that has left them without work and pay for 18 days. About 150 workers from various government […]
Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday failed to justify President Trump’s claim that former presidents supported his calls for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. During an interview on Today, NBC News’ Hallie Jackson pressed Pence on the issue. “Which former presidents told President Trump, as he said, that he should’ve built a wall?” Jackson […]
MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA — The posts began to pop up in Mym Hernandez’s Facebook and WhatsApp groups in November 2018. “PERDIDA,” they read. “LOST.” Next to the word was the smiling face of her friend, Ilama, from Hernandez’s home in Venezuela. Just earlier that month Hernandez, a 29-year-old Venezuelan migrant in Colombia, had seen that face in […]
Only a week into his presidency, Brazil’s far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro, is already making good on his campaign trail threats to abandon climate action in favor of industry interests, a shift in priorities that is drawing comparisons to his ally, President Donald Trump. In the wake of dire reports indicating that the world needs to […]
Former Daily Caller editor John Griffing has a new project: Texas independence. He recently joined the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) as the organization’s communications director. The Texas secessionist group has some murky ties to Russia: members representing TNM have made multiple trips to Russia over the past few years, including with members of separatist movements from […]
President Donald Trump announced Monday in a tweet that he would be addressing the nation on Tuesday night regarding his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump’s announcement comes as his partial shutdown of the federal government stretches into a third week with no end in sight. The Trump administration is demanding $5 billion to […]
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA — Advocates and local officials promised Monday that the 1.4 million Floridians previously deprived of their voting rights due to felony convictions will be able to register to vote when the amendment that restored their right is officially implemented Tuesday, no matter what Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis (R) says. Last month, DeSantis, who […]
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from ExxonMobil regarding Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s climate change investigation Monday, a decision legal experts called a “crushing blow” to the oil giant. The Court’s decision could have implications beyond the state of Massachusetts as Exxon is forced to hand over documents detailing what it knew […]
Because she’s one of the first Democrats to officially throw her hat in the ring for the 2020 presidential race, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) record has been under a lot of scrutiny over the past week. When it comes to LGBTQ issues, she has been a very consistent ally, with one exception, which her campaign […]