Judge puts Hunter Biden deal on hold, asks for clarity |
The judge overseeing the case against Hunter Biden has given his legal team and prosecutors 30 days to explain the deal, in which the president’s son would plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and avoid a felony gun charge.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, raised questions about the scope of the deal, with concerns reportedly centering on how much immunity from future prosecution would be included. Hunter Biden had planned to plead guilty to the two tax counts Wednesday. The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld noted: “An attorney for House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) on Tuesday sought to file a longshot amicus brief with the court that urged the judge to consider information from two IRS whistleblowers who recently testified before Congress before accepting the plea deal.” The whistleblowers alleged Biden received preferential treatment, which several Republican lawmakers have said bolsters their claims that the Justice Department is biased. Read more about the court appearance here. |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) froze for about 20 seconds during a press briefing, prompting concern among colleagues and reporters. An aide said McConnell “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”
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© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais |
Fed raises interest rate to 22-year high
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Following a brief pause in the string of interest rate hikes, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the baseline interest rate range to 5.25 to 5.5 percent, a 22-year high. “It is the Fed’s 11th interest rate hike since March 2022, a dizzying ascent from near-zero interest rates at the beginning of last year,” The Hill’s Taylor Giorno wrote. It’s part of the Fed’s push to get inflation down to a 2 percent annual target. The rate was at 3 percent last month. Read more from Giorno here. |
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White House memo attacks GOP anti-Biden messaging
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A memo from White House spokesperson Andrew Bates calls the GOP’s messaging against President Biden “bizarre,” “disjointed” and a “clown carousel.”
“Instead of having a consistent, disciplined message, the congressional GOP’s public criticisms of the Biden-Harris Administration are now a fragmented grab-bag that runs the gamut from bizarrely opposing our fentanyl crackdowns to blasting us for trying to end rural poverty (not a joke, sadly),” the memo read.
The memo further characterized Republican messaging as “a game of mad libs with bizarre conspiracies about the President’s family and then something about ‘wokeness[.]’”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said recently the House may pursue an impeachment inquiry against the president. House Republicans have been probing the Hunter Biden case over allegations that the president’s son received preferential treatment.
Read more on the memo here. |
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GOP lawmaker expects legislation after UFO hearing
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The House Oversight subcommittee on national security held a hearing on UFOs and other unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) featuring a whistleblower alleging the government withheld information and eyewitness accounts of such phenomena.
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) said he looked forward to learning more in a confidential setting and that “I assume some legislation will come out of this.”
Grothman said “there’s certainly a time period after which it [information] should always be made public and people have been concerned about these issues, like I said, since I was in high school.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) commented on the lack of partisan tension at the hearing: “I’ve only been here for seven months, but this is by far the most bipartisan conversation and discussion that I’ve seen happen in the Congress.”
Read more on the hearing here. |
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Watchdog group files complaint over $500k pro-Suarez donation |
The Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging in part that a shop that donated $500,000 to a super PAC supporting Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s (R) presidential bid was part of a scheme meant to conceal the identities of the real contributors.
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Group of automakers launching EV charging network
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Automakers BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis NV are launching a new electric vehicle (EV) charging network across the U.S. and Canada, saying it’ll rival Tesla’s network and nearly double the number of available plugs. |
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Medicare drug price negotiation program facing lawsuits
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Three pharmaceutical companies and two trade groups have sued the federal government over the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare drug price negotiation program ahead of a September announcement of the first 10 drugs to be subject to price negotiations.
“The various lawsuits have been filed in different jurisdictions across the country, in what legal experts say appears to be an effort to improve the industry’s chances of having their case heard at the Supreme Court,” The Hill’s Joseph Choi reported. “That could also extend the legal battle and any potential injunctions handed down along the way.” Read more here.
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“Congress is helping older Americans at the expense of younger peers” — Eugene Steuerle, a fellow at and co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C. (Read here)
“Will Alabama be allowed to defy the Supreme Court?” — Dennis Aftergut, of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) and a former prosecutor and Supreme Court advocate, and Walter H. White, Jr., a member of the Board of LDAD and former chair of the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights. (Read here)
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28 days until the first GOP presidential debate. 468 days until the presidential election. |
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