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Regulators examine reports of self-harm, suicidal thoughts among people taking Ozempic, Saxenda

July 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Regulators in Europe have launched a review after three people in Iceland experienced thoughts of suicide or self-harm after taking popular diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Saxenda.

The review is being led by the European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee out of an abundance of caution.

The agency said Tuesday that its review will conclude by November 2023, and has expanded to review 150 cases.

At this point, it’s not clear if people experienced thoughts of suicide or self-harm due to an underlying mental health condition, or whether these thoughts were related to starting drugs like Ozempic and Saxenda, which are called GLP-1 receptor agonists.

“The presence of a signal does not necessarily mean that a medicine caused the adverse event in question,” the agency said in a statement.

Still, experts say it important for regulators to diligently review any new possible health concern related to approved drugs.

Suicide is not currently listed as a side effect of Ozempic, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug label. That means it is not a safety problem that emerged during the large clinical trials that were done to test for safety and effectiveness.

Ozempic, Saxenda and others are part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 RAs that help people produce insulin and lower the amount of sugar in the blood.

The drugs, made from a compound called semaglutide, work by slowing down movement of food through the stomach and curbing appetite, thereby causing weight loss.

Ozempic was approved by the FDA in 2017 to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe it “off-label” for weight loss.

Saxenda and another drug, Wegovy, are both FDA approved for weight loss for people with obesity or who are overweight.

These drugs have not previously been associated with thoughts of self-harm.

However, prior weight loss medications have been associated with thoughts of self-harm. For that reason, Wegovy and Saxenda are not recommended for people with have previously had suicidal thoughts.

Known side effects of the drugs can include severe nausea and constipation.

Saxenda, Wegovy and Ozempic are all made by Novo Nordisk.

The pharmaceutical company told ABC News in a statement that it is “continuously performing surveillance” of the data and real-world uses of the drugs to ensure patient safety.

“Patient safety is a top priority for Novo Nordisk, and we take all reports about adverse events from use of our medicines very seriously. GLP-1 receptor agonists have been used to treat type 2 diabetes for more than 15 years and for treatment of obesity for 8 years, including Novo Nordisk products such as semaglutide and liraglutide that have been on the market for more than 10 years,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement. “In the US, FDA requires medications for chronic weight management that work on the central nervous system, including Wegovy® and Saxenda®, to carry a warning about suicidal behavior and ideation. This event had been reported in clinical trials with other weight management products.”

“Novo Nordisk is continuously performing surveillance of the data from ongoing clinical trials and real-world use of its products and collaborates closely with the authorities to ensure patient safety and adequate information to healthcare professionals,” the statement continued. “Novo Nordisk remains confident in the benefit risk profile of the products and remains committed to ensuring patient safety.”

The FDA also told ABC News it “routinely evaluates” approved drugs for safety.

The agency has so far not followed its European counterparts in announcing a review of GLP-1 RAs.

“The FDA routinely evaluates individual adverse event reports and adverse event reports from the published literature for all approved drugs,” the FDA said in a statement. “As a general matter, the FDA does not comment on third-party research or individual reports but may evaluate these as part of the body of evidence to further our understanding about a particular issue and assist in our mission to protect public health.”

“Clinical trials of Wegovy did not support an increased risk of suicidal behavior, suicidal ideation, or other psychiatric adverse events with Wegovy; however, suicidal behavior and ideation have been reported in clinical trials of other weight management drugs. For this reason, the US prescribing information for Wegovy contains a Warning and Precaution for suicidal behavior and ideation,” the statement continued. “The FDA monitors the safety of a drug throughout its life cycle, including post-approval. In addition, the FDA maintains a system of postmarketing surveillance and risk assessment programs and if newly identified safety signals are identified, the FDA will determine what actions are appropriate after a thorough review of the body of evidence.”

Doctors say anyone experiencing thoughts of self-harm for any reason should quickly reach out to a professional.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide — free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988. Even if you feel like it, you are not alone.

Civil rights activists unanimously vote to present reparations resolution to Maryland officials

July 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(ANNAPOLIS, Md.) — The Caucus of African American Leaders (CAAL) voted unanimously Tuesday evening to present a reparations resolution to Maryland officials, seeking programs to address the damage of slavery among Black Maryland residents.

“I’m inspired,” said Carl Snowden, the convenor of the caucus, which is composed of Black organizations, elected officials and activists, in a statement to ABC News following the vote. “This is the time to energize, mobilize, and organize people of goodwill to make this happen.”

The resolution will be presented to Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley next week, and then to Gov. Wes Moore and Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman in August.

“What we’re hoping is that those elected officials would agree that this is important,” Snowden said in an interview with ABC News the morning of the vote.

Part of asking them “to look at this issue is they will undoubtedly appoint a committee or commission, which would have the responsibility of looking at the local jurisdictions in the state and determine the best way to move forward,” he added.

Some cities and states are aiming to gain reparations for Black residents, notably California. The state’s reparations task force, held its final meeting last month, placing its recommendations into the hands of the state legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

While reparations are popular among Black people, it’s not among white people, according to the Pew Research Center. Last year it found that 77% of Black Americans support the action, compared to 18% of white Americans.

To gain insight about how the Caucus of African American Leaders should pursue reparations, it held a meeting Monday with Robin Rue Simmons, a former alderman in Evanston, Illinois. She spearheaded a reparations resolution in the city, which became the first in the nation to fund reparations for Black residents — committing $10 million to Black residents targeted by discriminatory policies.

“I didn’t even intend to call the question of reparations in my local government when I became an alderperson,” Simmons said. “I was really running to just change the life circumstances of the Black community, the Black experience — make sure that our neighborhood had the same access to everything, livability, quality of life, and opportunities as the rest of Evanston, which we did not have, although we are highly celebrated for our diversity, equity and inclusion and all of these things.”

Underscoring the need for reparations, Snowden said the harm to African Americans due to racist policies is self-evident.

“It explains why we have this wealth and health gap,” he said. “When you look at the problems that are in the African American community, many of these problems can be traced directly back to slavery.”

“The idea of reparations is not new,” Snowden noted, pointing to how Japanese Americans incarcerated in internment camps during WWII received them. “I’m confident we can do the same thing here in Maryland.”

Colorado woman dies after falling 500 feet at Rocky Mountain National Park: NPS

July 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A 26-year-old Boulder, Colorado, woman died after falling 500 feet while climbing a ridge at the Rocky Mountain National Park, park officials said Monday.

The woman was doing a free-solo climb at the site on Ypsilon Mountain when she fell on Sunday, according to the National Park Service.

Her 27-year-old hiking partner called park rangers, notifying them of the fall, officials said.

Members of the Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team requested a Colorado Air National Guard helicopter to help with removing her hiking partner, who was not hurt, NPS said.

The search and rescue team recovered the woman’s body on Monday morning, where she was flown to the Upper Beaver Meadows part of the park and then transported to the Larimer County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office, according to NPS.

The name of the woman will be released once her next of kin are informed, according to officials.

Rocky Mountain National Park covers about 415 square miles, or 265,807 acres of different mountain environments, including meadows to alpine lakes, and has more than 300 miles of hiking trails and areas to view wildlife, according to NPS.

Over four million hikers visit the park every year, making it one of the most visited parks within the National Park System, according to National Parks Conservation Association.

The incident is the second death at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park in the past week.

A 25-year-old man from Rhode Island died after he fell and was pulled underwater at West Creek Falls in the park on July 2, the National Park Service said in a press release.

“Mountain rivers, streams, and waterfalls are running very cold and very fast this time of year,” NPS said in a statement. “The depth and current of all waterways can be deceivingly deep and swift. Park visitors are reminded to keep back from the banks of streams, rivers and waterfalls.”

In another tragic hiking incident, a 57-year-old woman was on an 8-mile hike in the remote area of Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park on July 2 when she lost consciousness as temperatures reached triple digits.

A park ranger pronounced her dead a day later, according to the National Park Service.

Six-year-old Miami girl escapes alleged kidnapper after biting his arm: Police

July 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(MIAMI) — A 6-year-old girl in Miami thwarted her own kidnapping outside her home after she bit the attacker, according to the Miami Police Department.

Police arrested Leonardo Venegas on Saturday in connection to the alleged abduction, an arrest affidavit shows. He was charged with kidnapping and child abuse.

The child was playing with her siblings in the courtyard of their apartment complex in Miami on Thursday when they noticed a white SUV near the apartment, according to the affidavit.

After her siblings went inside, the 6-year-old girl sat on the rear stairway of her apartment when she was suddenly grabbed by the suspect, whom police identified as Leonardo Venegas, the affidavit shows.

Police said Venegas allegedly picked up the child and began to carry her away when she bit him on the arm, resulting in him dropping her. Venegas allegedly slapped the child and ran toward the front of the apartment complex, according to the affidavit.

“I bit him,” the 6-year-old told ABC News Miami affiliate WPLG-TV.

“He picked me up and then he slapped me,” she told the station. “Then he threw me on the floor and started running.”

The 6-year-old ran to the front of the building and told her aunt what happened, according to the affidavit.

Miami police said CCTV footage showed a white Range Rover entering the apartment complex and the suspect walking to the rear of the complex towards the staircase, where the 6-year-old was sitting.

The victim confirmed the man seen in the CCTV footage was the same person who allegedly tried to kidnap her, Miami police said.

Police found the white SUV at an address in Miami and then took Venegas into custody, according to the arrest record.

An attorney for Venegas did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.

In a separate incident in Florida from May, a 6-year-old girl in Daytona Beach was almost kidnapped after walking home from church with her mom on Mother’s Day, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.

The child and her mother were walking home hand-in-hand from Our Lady of Lourdes Church when a woman blocked them from moving any further, according to an incident report obtained by ABC News affiliate WFTV.

The woman then “intentionally grabbed” the 6-year-old, trying to break the grip between her and her mother, the report said. Ultimately unsuccessful, the suspect fled.

In another alleged abduction attempt from March, Jamaal Germany, 30, allegedly tried to kidnap a student standing at a bus stop in Gaithersburg, Maryland while waiting to be picked up by their school bus, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.

Germany is still in custody and his next court appearance is in September, according to the Montgomery County Detention Center. His plea information was not immediately available.

The alleged kidnapping attempt was foiled by a group of kids who came to the victim’s defense, police said.

July has the highest number of drowning deaths. Here’s how to prevent them

July 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The month of July has seen the highest number of unintentional drowning deaths since 2018, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Provisional data shows that nearly 800 people died in 2022 from an accidental drowning. According to the CDC, in 2020, during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, it topped 839 accidental drownings. The U.S. sees over 4,000 deaths from drownings each year.

Drowning is also the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4 and the second leading cause of death for kids between 5 and 14, according to the CDC.

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement in late June encouraging both parents and doctors to prioritize water safety, especially during the summer months when more families head to swimming pools, beaches and lakes.

“We have to look at swimming as a basic life skill, like learning to read. Because it is,” pediatrician Dr. Andrew Kiragu said in the statement. “Swimming is a skill that can save your life or the life of your child. It’s something everyone needs to learn.”

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance, a nonprofit founded in 2005, is dedicated to lowering the number of drownings and promoting water safety. Adam Katchmarchi, the group’s executive director, previously shared with ABC News’ Good Morning America the organization’s recommendations for staying safe near water.

“Oftentimes, parents think that they will see something or hear something when their child is drowning, and unfortunately, it’s very silent and very quick,” Katchmarchi said. “We recommend parents practice five simple layers of protection they can do to keep their child safe around the water.”

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance recommends these top five water safety tips:

Install and use alarms and fences

Barriers like proper fencing and alarms can “help restrict access to water and provide notification when someone enters the area where the water body is, such as a backyard pool,” Katchmarchi said.

Actively supervise swimmers and water activities

Katchmarchi emphasized the importance of active monitoring while swimming or recreating near water.

“We recommend that supervising adults do three things. We call them the three C’s: They are competent, capable and constant, so that they are capable of making a rescue and that supervision is constant at all times,” Katchmarchi said.

He added, “Part of the supervision element is … making sure that you can actively supervise your child anytime they’re around or in the water, and one of those ways is to make sure that they have a bright colored swimsuit.”

Learn how to swim

“We also recommend swimming lessons, making sure a child — and even adults — are water competent and have basic survival skills in the water,” Katchmarchi said.

Use life jackets

In addition, the National Drowning Prevention Alliance urges the use of U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets in, near or around bodies of water and while boating.

“Life jackets should be sized appropriately for the wearer. When other layers of protection may break down, life jackets can help prevent unintentional drowning,” the organization states on its website.

Prepare for any emergencies

“No one intends for these incidents to happen, but [by] taking simple steps, we can reduce the risk,” Katchmarchi said.

He added that, oftentimes, the difference between life and death is “only a few seconds,” and ensuring parents are able to “recognize that situation and provide care appropriately” is crucial.

Emergency preparedness also includes calling 911 if the situation calls for it, learning and practicing CPR, and learning how to use water safety and rescue equipment.

Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from prison after 53 years

July 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten was released from prison on Tuesday after serving 53 years behind bars, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

According to her attorney, Van Houten is now in a “transitional living facility.”

She was released to parole supervision and “will have a three-year maximum parole term with a parole discharge review occurring after one year,” the department said.

Her release comes after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he wouldn’t ask the state’s Supreme Court to block her parole.

“Governor Newsom reversed Ms. Van Houten’s parole grant three times since taking office and defended against her challenges of those decisions in court,” Erin Mellon, communications director for the Office of the Governor, said Tuesday.

Mellon continued, “The Governor is disappointed by the Court of Appeal’s decision to release Ms. Van Houten but will not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed. The California Supreme Court accepts appeals in very few cases, and generally does not select cases based on this type of fact-specific determination.”

Van Houten was 19 when she participated in the Aug. 10, 1969, murders of Leno LaBianca, a wealthy grocer, and his wife, Rosemary LaBianca, at their Los Angeles home. The LaBiancas were both stabbed to death and the word “war” was carved on Leno LaBianca’s stomach.

Van Houten told ABC News in 1994 that she and another Manson follower took Rosemary LaBianca into a bedroom and “the sounds of Mr. LaBianca dying came into the bedroom — horrible, guttural sounds. She started calling out to him and yelling for him. And at that moment, for a brief moment, I realized, you know, these are people that love each other.”

She said Manson follower Charles “Tex” Watson handed her a knife.

“He said, ‘Do something,’ because Manson had told him to make sure that all of us got our hands dirty,” Van Houten said. “And I stabbed Mrs. LaBianca in the lower back about 16 times.”

Van Houten did not participate in the “Manson family” murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others, who were killed at another Los Angeles home one night earlier.

While Manson didn’t commit the killings himself, he commanded his followers to do so. Manson died in prison in 2017.

DOJ reversal could clear way for Carroll’s 1st lawsuit against Trump to proceed

July 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Justice Department said on Tuesday it was no longer claiming, under the Westfall Act, that former President Donald Trump was acting within the scope of his office and employment as president of the United States when he allegedly defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019.

The development, which could clear the way for Carroll’s initial 2019 lawsuit against then-President Trump to proceed, came on the same day that Carroll’s attorney argued for the dismissal of a counterclaim Trump filed against Carroll in a separate but related case.

A jury in May found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s, then defaming her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie.” But Carroll’s initial defamation lawsuit, filed in 2019, has been tied up in the courts over the question of whether Trump’s denial of Carroll’s rape claim was part of his official duties, as he argued.

If so, the Justice Department would have substituted for Trump as the defendant and the case would have been moot since the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.

Instead, the Justice Department said Tuesday that “it lacks adequate evidence to conclude that the former President was sufficiently actuated by a purpose to serve the United States Government to support a determination that he was acting within the scope of his employment when he denied sexually assaulting Ms. Carroll and made the other statements regarding Ms. Carroll that she has challenged in this action.”

Word from the DOJ came in a letter to the court from James Touhey, director of the Justice Department’s torts branch.

“The evidence of Mr. Trump’s state of mind, some of which has come to light only after the Department last made a certification decision, does not establish that he made the statements at issue with a ‘more than insignificant’ purpose to serve the United States Government,” the letter said. “Here, although the statements themselves were made in a work context, the allegations that prompted the statements related to a purely personal incident: an alleged sexual assault that occurred decades prior to Mr. Trump’s Presidency. That sexual assault was obviously not job-related.”

The filing marks a major reversal for the Justice Department, which had repeatedly stood by its position to bolster Trump’s defense in the case even in the face of withering criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill.

“The job of the Justice Department and making decisions of law is not to back any administration, previous or present,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2021. “And our job in doing so is to ensure adherence to the rule of law, which is a fundamental requirement of a democracy, or a republic or a representative democracy.”

Carroll’s 2019 lawsuit is scheduled for trial in January.

“We are grateful that the Department of Justice has reconsidered its position,” Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement. “We have always believed that Donald Trump made his defamatory statements about our client in June 2019 out of personal animus, ill will, and spite, and not as President of the United States.”

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Meanwhile, Carroll’s attorneys argued Tuesday for the dismissal of the counterclaim that Trump filed against Carroll for comments she made on CNN after she won her separate but related suit against him.

Trump sued Carroll last month after she insisted in a television interview that he had raped her in the dressing room despite the jury finding him liable for the lesser charge of sexual assault.

“Carroll’s statements are not plausibly susceptible of a defamatory meaning, are substantially true, were uttered without actual malice, and are protected by the fair reporting privilege,” Carroll’s attorneys said in their motion to dismiss.

Her attorneys said there is no basis for Trump to proceed with a counterclaim, which they said “would impose on Carroll undue burden and significant expense, not to mention hold up yet again this otherwise trial-ready, much-delayed case.”

Trump’s counterclaim is based on Carroll’s May 10 appearance on CNN during which she answered questions about the jury’s verdict holding Trump liable and awarding her $5 million in damages, which Trump has asked the court to reduce.

“I just wonder, E. Jean, what went through your head when you heard that?” a CNN reporter asked Carroll about the jury’s determination that Trump hadn’t committed rape.

“Well, I just immediately say in my own head, ‘Oh, yes, he did — oh, yes, he did.’ So that’s my response,” Carroll replied.

“This statement about Carroll’s recollection was not defamatory as a matter of law because it was substantially true,” her attorneys said in Tuesday’s filing. “Trump does not allege that Carroll lied about her own recollections. In other words, he does not claim that she lied when she told CNN’s reporters that she had thought ‘Oh, yes, he did — oh, yes, he did’ while listening to the jury verdict.”

Tommy Tuberville reverses his claim that white nationalists are unfairly labeled racist

July 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday said, simply and for the first time, that “white nationalists are racists.”

That remark to reporters marked a reversal from days of controversial comments to the contrary, which had drawn criticism from Democratic leaders and head-scratching from some of Tuberville’s Republican colleagues.

Earlier on Tuesday, the senator told ABC News that white nationalists shouldn’t all be labeled as “racist” while also insisting he opposes racism.

Tuberville, a former college football coach first elected in 2020, had been pressed on his stance by ABC’s Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, who asked him, “Can you explain why you continue to insist that white nationalists are American?”

Scott was referring to commets Tuberville made first in May and then again earlier this week, after he was initially asked about military readiness and whether white nationalists should be able to serve.

“Listen, I’m totally against racism. And if Democrats want to say that white nationalists are racist, I’m totally against that, too,” he told Scott on Tuesday, hours before changing his view.

“But that’s not a Democratic definition,” Scott said.

“Well that’s your definition. My definition is racism is bad,” Tuberville responded.

Scott followed up to say that the definition of a white nationalist is someone believing “the white race is superior to all other races” and asked, “Do you believe that white nationalists are racist?”

“Yes, if that’s what a racist is, yes,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday quickly denounced Tuberville’s position.

“For the senator from Alabama to obscure the racist nature of white nationalism is indeed very, very dangerous,” Schumer said. “His words have power and carry weight with the fringe of his constituency — just the fringe, but if that fringe listens to him, excusing … white nationalism, he is fanning the flames of bigotry and intolerance.”

“I urge my Republican colleagues to impress upon the senator from Alabama the destructive impact of his words and urge him to apologize,” Schumer said.

Tuberville has repeatedly challenged the label of “white nationalism,” suggesting in interviews that he feels it is unfairly applied by Democrats and that the military, in particular, is wrongly focused on removing white nationalists from their ranks.

During a local radio interview in May, Tuberville — who has been blocking certain military nominations over his objections to a Pentagon policy on service member abortion access — was asked about how that could affect military readiness.

When he criticized “Democrats … saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists,” he was then asked, “Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?”

“Well, they call them that. I call them Americans,” he said.

He went on to condemn “extremists” who overran the Capitol during Jan. 6 but also defended those people whom he said did not actually enter the complex and “were true Americans that believe in this country.”

He criticized a subsequent effort by the military to examine extremism in the ranks. Multiple active-duty service members and veterans have been convicted and sentenced for involvement in Jan. 6.

“Saying we’re going to run out the white nationalists, people that don’t believe how we believe …. that’s not how we do it in this country,” Tuberville said in May.

He later said on CNN that the point he was trying to make was narrower: “Democrats portray all MAGA Republicans as white nationalists. That’s not true, we got a lot of great people in the military that are MAGAs — that’s what I was talking about.”

In a Monday appearance on CNN, Tuberville said there could be conflicting views on white nationalism.

“My opinion of a white nationalist, if someone wants to call them white nationalist, to me is an American,” he said.

But he also said, “If people think a white nationalist is a racist, I agree with that.”

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told ABC News on Tuesday that while he did not see the Tuberville appearance on CNN, he made clear that white nationalism has no home in the Republican Party.

“I’m not sure exactly what he was trying to say there, but … I would just say there’s no place for white nationalism in our party and I think that’s kind of full stop,” Thune said, before Tuberville reversed himself.

“I just think when you’re throwing around terms like that, you have to be careful and cautious,” Thune said, adding, “We are not a racist country. We are not a racist party.”

Thune did not commit to speaking to Tuberville directly about his comments, saying it was possible the Alabama lawmaker said “probably something different than how it perhaps is being interpreted.”

“Hopefully we’ll get a better understanding of what it was he was trying to communicate,” Thune said. “But again, I just would say emphatically there’s no place for that in the party.”

Asked about Schumer’s call for Tuberville to apologize, Thune said that was about politics: “It’s playing right into Schumer’s wheelhouse.”

Tuberville, asked about Schumer, told reporters: “He needs to apologize.”

On Tuesday afternoon, at his weekly press conference, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was asked to weigh in on Tuberville and said, “White supremacy is simply unacceptable in the military and in our home country.”

McConnell was not asked to respond to Tuberville’s ongoing hold on military nominees, though he has said in the past that he opposes Tuberville’s approach.

Fulton County DA empaneling new grand jury to weigh Trump election charges

July 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Atlanta-area prosecutor investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia is empaneling a new grand jury that could ultimately decide whether to approve charges against former President Donald Trump.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis met Tuesday with prospective jurors in front of Judge Robert McBurney at a courthouse near Atlanta, where she has been probing whether Trump and his allies’ overtures to state officials in late 2020 amounted to criminal activity.

In April, Willis signaled publicly that potential charges could be brought as soon as this summer.

Willis officially launched the probe in February 2021, sparked in part by the now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.

Trump has denounced the investigation and has repeatedly defended his phone call to Raffensperger, which he called “perfect.”

In January, a previous special grand jury seated by Willis issued its final report, which found “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”

That grand jury did not have the ability to return an indictment — only to make recommendations concerning criminal prosecutions.

The publicly released portion of their report revealed no details about any such recommendations, beyond recommending that prosecutors seek indictments against witnesses who they believe may have lied during their testimony.

Virginia Republicans encourage early voting, a target of Trump’s, ahead of fall elections

July 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(VIRGINIA) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday launched an initiative to increase early voting, either by mail or in-person, before Election Day in the state — the latest such push by Republicans even as former President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized a method being embraced by more and more people.

The “Secure Your Vote Virginia” campaign is a coordinated program to turn out Republicans and swing voters across Virginia.

The governor and his PAC, Spirit of Virginia, see early voting efforts as key in the fall legislative elections, when the GOP hopes to hold the House of Delegates and to flip the state Senate.

“Your vote matters and we’re going to need engagement from everyone interested in moving Virginia forward to be successful. We can’t go into Election Day down thousands of votes, so I’m thrilled to have such strong partners coming alongside us in this effort. We fundamentally believe Secure Your Vote Virginia is how, together, we can win in 2023 and beyond,” Youngkin said in a statement.

The Republican Party of Virginia launched a video featuring Youngkin discussing his early voting initiative and explaining how the state has made it easier to vote.

Earlier this summer, in the Virginia primaries, Youngkin emerged a kingmaker in the state as all 10 of his Republican endorsees went on to win their races.

Many of those nominees are running for seats that will be crucial in deciding which party will control the state House and Senate.

“Now, we need to lean in and leave nothing for chance, which is why Secure Your Vote Virginia is so important,” the state’s GOP chairman, Rich Anderson, said in his own statement.

The pro-early voting message from Youngkin and Virginia Republicans is drastically different from the false narrative of fraud that Trump has spread about people casting early ballots. Some conservatives say such rhetoric harmed them, politically.

“One of the first lessons we have to take from the midterms is the power of early voting,” activist Charlie Kirk tweeted after the 2022 elections.

Youngkin’s early voting efforts come on the heels of a Republican National Committee early voting campaign announced in June.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told reporters then that the initiative is a “nationwide effort focusing on maximizing pre-Election Day turnout for Republican candidates.”

Virginia Democrats offered a pointed rebuttal to Younkin’s efforts, saying that his “change of heart” occurred within six months of the GOP-led state House passing two bills that would have banned absentee ballot drop boxes and slashed early voting days in the commonwealth. Both were later defeated in the state Senate.

“We welcome the Virginia Republicans’ newly discovered interest in promoting democracy,” said Liam Watson, press secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia. “Of course, we wish they had shown up in support of early voting and vote-by-mail years ago, instead of consistently voting against reforms designed to strengthen democracy in the commonwealth.”

With Youngkin nationalizing Virginia’s legislative races this year, questions have also swirled about his political future. He is term-limited as governor but has not conclusively shut the door on a late-breaking bid for the White House in 2024.

When asked on CNN on Monday if he thought he could be a primary challenger to Trump given that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is trailing in the early polls, Youngkin said that “he’s focused on 2023.”

ABC News’ Caroline Curran and Laura Romero contributed to this report.

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