Friday, May 31, 2024

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1/ Trump, a former U.S. president and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is a convicted felon. A jury of 12 New Yorkers found Trump guilty on all 34 felon counts of orchestrating an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election by falsifying business records – a crime that carries a possible sentence up to four years in prison. The verdict – both unprecedented and historic – makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony. Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump’s motion for an acquittal and set a sentencing hearing for July 11 – four days before the Republican National Convention. The Biden campaign said the verdict illustrates that “no one is above the law,” but added: “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.” Trump, meanwhile, declared the outcome a “disgrace,” proclaimed “we didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man,” falsely claimed that the case was “done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt a political opponent,” and promised that the “real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people.” He added: “Our country has gone to hell, we don’t have the same country anymore.” Trump is expected to appeal the verdict, which could take months or years to resolve. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNN / NPR / Politico / Axios / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg)

2/ Biden gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with U.S.-made weapons. The approval – a significant reversal for Biden – is intended for Ukraine to strike military targets in Russia that are being used to attack Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Putin, meanwhile accused NATO of “unending escalation,” and warned this could lead to “serious consequences.” (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / CNN)

3/ Chief Justice John Roberts refused to meet with the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss “the Supreme Court’s ethics crisis” related to Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas. Alito has faced scrutiny over reports that two of his properties displayed

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