Month: July 2022

A New York judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to testify next month before a Fulton County special grand jury investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others interfered in Georgia’s 2020 elections.  New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber ordered Giuliani to appear Aug. 9, “and on any such other dates as this court may order,” after he and Trump attorney failed to attend a July 13 hearing to challenge the subpoena.

Giuliani was one of seven Trump associates subpoenaed earlier this month, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who recently agreed to testify. Giuliani is being ordered to testify about appearances in December 2020 before Georgia’s state Senate where he and lawyer John Eastman blamed Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden on disproven claims of widespread voter fraud.

The 23-person special grand jury has already started hearing evidence. If Giuliani fails to appear in Atlanta on Aug. 9, a judge can issue a material witness warrant to arrest and detain him until he testifies.  The special grand jury will not have the power to return an indictment, however, it “may make recommendations concerning criminal prosecutions as it shall see fit.”

Editorial credit: Frontpage / Shutterstock.com

President Biden declared that the threat of climate change had reached “code red for humanity,” and pledged to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% by 2030.

President Biden said during a speech in Massachusetts on Wednesday:  “This is an emergency and I will look at it that way. I’ll use my executive powers to combat the climate crisis in the absence of congressional action.” Biden touted several actions the administration is taking, saying that the White House was planning a series of executive orders in the coming weeks to address climate change.

A new $2.3 billion grant program announced Wednesday for state and local communities to build climate-resilient infrastructure. Said the president:  “It is literally – not figuratively – a clear and present danger. The health of our citizens and our communities is literally at stake.”

The speech came after negotiations stalled once again in Congress on including green energy subsidies in a party-line spending bill. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., recently urged his party to delay including tax and climate change provisions within the package until there was a clear picture of the national economy. Without Manchin’s support, the tax is unlikely to become law.

Editorial credit: Matt Smith Photographer / Shutterstock.com