Tuesday, March 12, 2024

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1/ A group of Independent and Democratic senators led by Bernie Sanders urged Biden to suspend U.S. military aid to Israel until it allows humanitarian assistance to reach Gaza. In a letter, the senators argued that blocking aid violates the Foreign Assistance Act. The senators insisted that more leverage is needed to change Israel’s policy. (New York Times / New Republic)

2/ The Biden administration announced a $300 million weapons package for Ukraine. The aid will be drawn from existing U.S. stockpiles and is meant as a stopgap measure to address the country’s need for ammunition and air defense systems amid Russia’s ongoing attacks. The move comes as Congress remains deadlocked over a $60.1 billion Ukraine aid bill, with the U.S. having exhausted its assistance to Ukraine since the last package in December 2022. (New York Times / NBC News)

3/ Trump may not have sufficient liquid assets to cover the full $464 million civil fraud judgment against him if he loses his appeal. In a court filing, NY Attorney General Letitia James argued that Trump and his co-defendants should be required to post cash or bonds covering the entire amount to pause the judgment while they challenge the ruling, citing potential fluctuations in his real estate holdings’ value, post-judgment interest, and his other legal battles, including an $83.3 million defamation judgment. James urged the appeals court to reject Trump’s bid to stay the judgment with a $100 million bond, warning that Trump and his co-defendants might attempt to evade or impede enforcement of the judgment if they lose the appeal. (NBC News / CNBC / ABC News)

4/ Trump plans to argue in his upcoming hush money trial that he was unaware that his actions were illegal because his lawyers were involved in the process. Trump’s attorneys plan to argue that he “lacked the requisite intent to commit the conduct charged in the indictment.” The judge in the case, however, is not likely to allow Trump to present evidence of his lawyers’ involvement without explicitly invoking the advice-of-counsel defense, and Trump’s lawyers said they don’t plan to formally invoke that defense. Trump faces 34 charges related to allegedly covering up a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. The trial is set to begin with jury selection on March 25. (NBC News / CNN / WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.